


Something Different

by PaleNoFace



Series: The Fine Art Of Communication [2]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Allura Is Not Helpful™, Female Pronouns for Pidge | Katie Holt, I love her but she needs to Stop, Keith (Voltron) Has Abandonment Issues, Keith (Voltron) is a Mess, Keith cries a lot, Klance - Relationship - Freeform, Lance (Voltron) is a Dork, Lance (Voltron) is a Good Boyfriend, Lance (Voltron)-centric, M/M, Miscommunication, No They Still Don't Know How To Talk To Each Other, Obvious Lack Of Communication Skills, Panic Attacks, Self-Esteem Issues, Shiro Is Still Tired™, Slow To Update, Space Uncle Coran (Voltron), They're Making It HArd For Themselves, Touch-Starved Keith (Voltron), broganes, gotta love a man, in this house we respect a blue boi, still have no clue how to tag
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-11-09
Updated: 2019-06-22
Packaged: 2019-08-21 05:54:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 9,920
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16570913
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PaleNoFace/pseuds/PaleNoFace
Summary: Relationships aren't easy. Relationships in space are complicated at best. Keith and Lance make it work somehow, but it would be so much easier if they actuallytalked to each other.





	1. The Fall Of The Castle Of Lions (but it's not really the same)

It started great, really. The Arusians were having the time of their lives at the party Allura threw in their honor after the whole Galactic Warrior Debacle, as Shiro liked to call it, and Lance was _thriving_ : he was getting high on the atmosphere, positively glowing despite the near-death experience he just got through. Everyone was fine, and even Keith was somewhat more relaxed than usual.

"We ought to get something like that," Hunk said as he approached them, thumbing at the group of Arusians cheering around Allura.

"Like what ?" Lance asked, because he was a little bit distracted by the presence of the Red Paladin innocently crowding his personal space - not that Lance would complain, absolutely not.

"You know, like, a cheer. Like, a team cheer that we do."

"Mm-hmm," he nodded, rubbing his chin. "Yeah, okay. How about, uh... I say 'Vol' and you say 'Tron.' Vol—!"

"Uh... Vol-tron ?" Keith attempted, looking more confused than ever.

"No !" Lance almost facepalmed. "No, no, no, no, no. The cheer includes the instructions. I say 'Vol' and you say..?"

"... Vol-tron ?"

The Blue Paladin looked unimpressed.

"... We'll work on it."

As Keith shrugged at Hunk, clueless, Lance downed his glass and immediately regretted his life choices. He called Coran, trying not to choke to death :

"Coran, what is this ?!"

"Oh, this is Nunvill, the nectar of the gods," the old man replied, smiling under his glorious moustache.

"It tastes like hot dog water and _feet_."

"Yeah, makes a wonderful hair tonic as well," the Altean replied before sprinkling Nunvill on said moustache, which grew luxurious.

Then there were three minutes where Lance completely blacked-out, only remembering that he fell on the ground at some point. When he came back to himself, Keith was tasting the Nunvill, raw determination in his eyes, before spitting it out on Hunk, who swang around on his feet, reappearing with Arusian food on his face, screaming about his blind eyes. Keith laughed, and Lance and Hunk laughed with him, and overall it was a really good night.

And, if at some point he noticed Allura looking between them and the mice, he didn't care enough to go and snitch.

"I guess we should get used to this space juice," he said to Hunk at some point, Keith having disappeared in the crowd. "Who knows when we'll get back home again ?"

"Yeah, if ever," his best friend replied with a defeated sigh.

"What do you mean ?"

"I mean, if this Zarkon guy has been ruling for ten thousands years, how long do you think it will take for us to fix it ? You know, if we live."

"Right. That."

The silence grew, uncomfortable, until Hunk waved his alien food around.

"Hey, what do you think the chances are of us landing on a nacho planet ?"

"Well, there's only one planet with Veradera Beach, pizza shack looking over the water, and the garlic knots and... my mom's hugs..."

Lance's throat grew tight as he fought back the heat pooling behind his eyes. He coughed a couple of times, trying to get rid of the unpleasant sensation of homesickness.

"I'm sorry. I think this Nunvill is getting to me. I gotta go."

His feet lead him to the Bridge of the Castle, and he stood there for a moment, glancing up at the holograms of unknown planets twirling around. Someone cleared his throat, pulling him out of his thoughts.

"Keith has been looking for you," Coran said, before sitting next to him. "Mind if I join you ?"

"How far from Earth do you think we are, Coran ?"

"Let's take a look."

He brought up a holographic map, tilting it so Lance could see.

"Earth is all over here," he explained. "And we're aaaaaaaall... the waaaaaaay... oveeeeer..." he trailed on as he moved the map again and again, still not reaching Arus' location.

Lance sighed.

"You ever notice how far the planets are from each other, Coran ?"

"Yes," the other replied, twisting his moustache, "Haven't you been paying attention ?"

"Yeah, but I mean, like, they're really, really far away. Like, say, Earth ? It's so far, I can't even see it. The... The blue oceans, the white clouds, green grass... I c- I-I... I can't see any of it."

Coran hummed, a knowing look on his face.

"You miss Earth. I understand. I miss Altea."

"I know we're supposed to be brave Paladins and Defenders of the Universe or whatever, but, honestly ?" He gulped. "I just want to go home."

"If I could go home, I would."

"I miss rain, and splashing in puddles."

"Rain ?"

"Yeah. It's water that falls from the sky ?"

"Oh, we had that on Altea. Only, it wasn't water, more like rocks. Razor-sharp and boiling-hot. Oh, they could knock a hole right in your head."

"Sounds fun."

"Yeah."

"I miss... I miss cartoons before school. Like, it's always the same ten episodes that you see again and again and again, but it's- I don't know. It's cosy. It's safe. It's like waking up from a nap on a Saturday afternoon and it's still sunny outside, and you have the choice between getting up and help around or go back to sleep for ten more minutes."

Coran chuckled. He probably didn't get half of what Lance was saying, but his eyes were smiling with knowledge. Lance continued.

"I miss getting up in the middle of the night at the Garrison to walk in the desert. Wait for the sun to rise, because it'll always rise, no matter what happens. I miss... eating canned food, like it's honestly terrible, it doesn't taste good, it's not even heated or anything, but it's- It's good, for some reason. It's okay. I miss doing homework with Hunk and Pidge, and theorize on alien existence, because we didn't know if you guys were really _out there_."

Another sigh. Lance shook his head.

"I miss the time I had a choice."

Coran didn't give any advice ; but he stayed with Lance, sitting in the dark with blue and purple and green lights floating around. When they got nothing more to share and eventually left the room, Lance almost bumped into Pidge's robot.

"Hey Rover," he greeted.

The drone didn't respond with a soft beep-bop, like he usually did, and that was maybe what made Lance tilt.

"Wait. Where's Pidge ?"

He took another look at the drone, its red lining. ...Wait, _red_ lining ?

"Coran, look out !"

Then came the explosion.

____________________________________________________________________________

In Lance's defense, he wasn't thinking when jumping between Coran and the explosion. It's not like he _meant_ to get hurt. And, again, nothing in the way the evening could have pointed toward the big mess Team Voltron found themselves into.

He woke up slowly. The first thing he noticed was the absence of pain, and call him an opportunist, but Lance would have chosen that any day over the burning he felt right before passing out. Listening carefully, he could hear the rest of his team taking in hushed voices, gathered somewhere in front of the pod Lance was without a doubt resting in.

"...can't thank you enough for all you did," Shiro was saying. "I can't help but feel that you were meant to be a part of our team... but I understand if you want to leave."

"Dad used to tell me how close he was with his crew members. They were like family. Now, I understand what he was talking about." Pidge made a small noise before continuing : "I'm staying with you guys. Let's stop Zarkon for all of our families."

"Good to have you back on the team," Allura said, a smile in her voice.

Lance went back to sleep for a while, not sure how to interpret what he just heard.

____________________________________________________________________________

"I can't tell if he looks healthy... or not," Hunk pointed out as they waited.

"I think he's breathing weird," Pidge added.

"Oh, come on !" Keith flinched, before tapping on the pod and being stopped by the Princess.

"Not yet !" she scowled him. "A few more ticks."

"How much better do you think he's gonna get in a few more ticks ?!" he grunted, his heart jumping uncomfortably in his throat.

"And what exactly is a tick ?" Pidge asked, always the pragmatic one.

"You know, a time-slice," Allura replied, incredibly unhelpful.

"What, like a second ?" Shiro tried, blessed be his soul.

"What is a 'second' ?"

Before Keith could start to pull his hair or cry -or maybe both -, Pidge fished a clock from nowhere to show her.

"Like this."

"I'm not sure," the Altean replied. "I think ticks are bigger. Coran, do you have a ticker ?"

"Right here, Princess."

He leaned forwards, pressing the ticker against the clock to compare the two. If he was slightly less nervous, Keith might have focused on it instead of the healing pod. Fortunately for Lance, Keith was more interested in his boyfriend's well-being than in some interspecies time competition.

"Hey you," Lance muttered, an arm draped loosely around Keith's shoulders as he tumbled out of the pod.

"Hey yourself," Keith breathed. "How are you feeling ?"

"Lance !" Hunk yelped before hugging the two of them with his entire force.

"What happened ?" Lance eventually croaked when he and Keith were back on the ground.

"We can tell you all about it while you get something to eat. Are you able to walk ?" Allura asked.

"Talking ? Eating ? Are you asking me out on a date ?" he joked, feeling more than hearing Keith groan by his side, so he playfully pulled him closer.

"Yep, there he is," Pidge smirked.

"Yup, he's okay," Shiro confirmed with a shake of his head.

Keith just snaked his arm around Lance's waist and hold him tighter. They made their way to the Dining Hall and Lance got some goo that he downed happily and without complaining about the taste, for once, while the mice were running on the table in front of him. Around the table, the rest of the group was still talking.

"He'd be Sendak's prisoner right now, if not for Pidge," Allura said.

"Well, you wouldn't have survived the explosion if Hunk and Coran hadn't gotten a new Crystal," the latter replied.

"Wow. Thanks, everybody. Sounds like the mice did more than you, though," Lance rolled his eyes playfully.

"Hey, I punched Sendak !" Keith interjected.

"Yeah, apparently after I emerged from a coma and shot his arm off."

"We had a bonding moment ! I cradled you in my arms !"

When Keith threw his hand to the ceiling, exasperated, the cuban boy laughed and leaned over, placing a loud kiss on his cheek.

"There, happy ?"

Keith crossed his arms, but his false pout did a bad job at hiding his blush. When Lance looked back at the rest of the table, he met five pair of staring eyes.

"What ?"

Shiro rose a finger but found himself lacking words, Pidge coughed while Hunk's eyes glittered with realization.

"What ?" Lance asked again, before turning to Keith, who shrugged.

"Are you..." Shiro tried.

"Are you guys a thing now ?" Pidge cut him.

"What do you mean 'a thing' ?" Keith frowned.

"What do you mean 'now' ?" Lance added.

" _What_ ?" Hunk blinked.

"What is going on ?" Allura blinked harder.

"Wait wait wait," Lance rose both hands. "Keith and I have been dating for almost two years. How did none of you realize that ?"

Shiro turned to his brother, who was frowning harder than ever.

"You do ?"

"Well... Yeah. It's not like we've been particularly hiding, either. We literally share a room."

"You never told me !" Hunk accused, sounding utterly betrayed.

"You never asked, I thought you figured it out but you didn't want to bring it up !"

"But you're always yelling at each other..?" Pidge hummed, and it sounded more like a question than a statement.

"Because he's a hothead and I have to play impulse-control..."

"...And he makes poor life choices that I have to fix afterward."

"I never realized," Shiro whispered, his expression torn between wonder and exitement.

"Guys," Lance sighed, rubbing his face. "We're on top of each other half of the time."

"Butting heads."

"Still counts, Keith, don't make this more difficult."

Lance was worried that Allura and Coran would earn a stiff neck with all the movement their heads did to follow the conversation, so he cut it short.

"Not that I mind the attention and everything, but maybe we should focus on what's more pressing right now. So, what happened to Sendak ?"

"He's frozen in a cryo-pod. We're keeping him here in the Castle," the Princess informed him.

"Are you sure that's a good idea ?"

"He's too dangerous to be set free. Besides, we might be able to get some information about Zarkon from him."

"So, what's the plan now ?"

"We have to get back to the Balmera and save Shay and her people."

Lance winked at Hunk.

"Wow, you are really hung up on this lady."

"No, it's not like that," Hunk fought back a blush. "Look, guys, when you see how Zarkon has treated these people and destroyed their home—They've been under his thumb for so long, they don't even know what it is to be free. It's up to us to set this right. This is what being a Paladin of Voltron is all about. It's time to man up."

Pidge frowned, about to say something, when Shiro stepped in.

"Then let's get moving. Time to go defend the universe."

"Wait, I have something to say first," the Green Paladin said, stopping the rest of the group as they were already leaving. "I need to come clean and... I'm afraid this may change the way you all think about me. Just so there are definitely no more secrets between us anymore, I can't 'man up'. ... I'm a girl."

Lance stared blankly at him - not, _at her_ \- until she became flustered and started to fidget nervously.

"I-I mean, I can 'man up' because that's just a figure of speech. I don't have to actually be a man to 'man up'. I just have to be tough. But what I'm saying—"

Then Lance's brain started working again.

"Huh- Eh- Wha-?! You're a girl ?! HOW ?!"

"I've known for some time, but I'm glad you've shared it with everyone," Allura smiled.

"Yeah, I figured," Hunk nodded with a soft face.

"Oh, yeah, me too," Keith shrugged, like it was nothing.

"Wait, we were supposed to think you were a boy ?" Coran asked, and Lance couldn't tell if he was being serious or not.

"Pidge," Shiro finally interrupted, "Owning who you are is going to make you a better Paladin."

"It's good to get that off my chest," Pidge sighed in relief. "Now, let's launch this Castleship !"

"Wait, what ? Pidge is a girl and the Castle is a ship ? How long have I been out ?!"

Keith snickered but didn't answer Lance's very valid questions. Later that night, Shiro brought him apart to have a heartfelt conversation about relationships. Between two embarrassing moments, he told his little brother how proud he was. And if Keith cried a little, Shiro was good enough not to notice.


	2. The Blade of Marmora (but not quite)

It started with Ulaz trying to break in. Or, more accurately, it started with Shiro coming back from the unknown depths of the universe with informations downloaded in his arm, giving them a location they eventually reached and _then_ Ulaz trying to break in. After attacking everyone for a reason obscure to Lance, Ulaz told them about the Blade of Marmora, but then they got attacked and had to fight off a Galra cruiser, only for Ulaz to sacrifice himself to save everyone. Then Shiro and Keith decided to go down and see if they could make some sort of alliance with the rebels, and the rest of the team was completely in the dark about what was happening in there.

 

It has been a mess. And as far as Lance was concerned, it was still a mess.

 

"The Red Lion is moving !" Allura signaled as Red started to fire the Marmora base on her screen.  
"We gotta get down here !" Lance immediately jumped on his feet, stress rushing through his body.  
"The route won't be ready for five more minutes," Hunk pointed out before looking up from his own screen. "Wait, what does that mean ? Why would the lion attack ? Unless..."  
"Allura ?" Lance called, and he didn't know if he was asking for a confirmation or a permission, but he knew he was about to bolt through the door and down to the hangar as soon as she would let him.  
"Everyone, stay focused," the Princess said instead. "Coran, how much longer until we can get in ?"  
"Just few more ticks, Princess."  
"Get ready," Allura nodded in Lance direction, the latter immediately leaving the room, Pidge hot on his heels.  
"Five... four... three... two... one..." Coran counted through the speakers, rhythming the run the three remaining Paladins to their Lions.

 

But just as they passed in front of one of the windows, they witnessed the flash of the pathway, and Red came back into view.

 

"Princess," Shiro's voice resonated in the speakers, "we're coming back, and we're bringing someone you should meet."  
"They're all right !" Coran cheered, and Lance started breathing again, earning a gentle pat in the back from Hunk.  
"We're half-way there, team, let's meet them," Pidge sighed in relief.

 

Allura and Coran joined them right when Red settled in the hangar and lowered his head to let his passengers out. When Shiro walked down, supporting a barely conscious Keith and followed by a tall, masked figure, Lance's blood ran cold. Keith was a shadow of himself, blood trickling down his face and diverse cuts all over his body, and Lance instinctively knew that the Marmorite, or what the fuck was their name, did this to him.

 

He took on him to keep his mouth shut and moved forward, making a straight line for his team-mates, worry and anger tensing his traits with every footstep. Without a word, he took Keith from Shiro's hold, a weird feeling of déjà-vu downing on him - except that this time, Keith was the injured one. He wanted to ask what the quiznak happened in there, but the weight of his boyfriend in his arms helped him sort out his priorities.

 

"I'm taking him to the med bay," he told Shiro as the other guy went directly to speak with Allura.  
"Thanks. And, please, Lance, make sure he gets some rest," the team leader nodded, concern flashing in his eyes. "He'll listen to you. It's not deadly, but he still went through a lot."  
"Keith, come on, let's go," Lance muttered under his breath. "Stay with me babe, I need you to walk."

 

Keith gabbled something incomprehensible.

 

"What was that ?" he asked, passing the door and leaving the rest of the team behind - he knew Shiro would summarize the meeting to them later.  
"... have to tell them," Keith repeated louder, his head rolling backward, exposing the nasty cut on his cheekbone and the blood running down his nose.  
"Whatever it is, it can wait until you're healed," the Blue Paladin insisted, fighting a wince at the sight.  
"I really can't... Lance, it's-" the other tried again, but then coughed and almost fell forward.  
"Heyheyhey, less talking, more walking. Don't you dare die on me, samurai."

 

Keith shook his head and coughed up again, but he didn't say anything more until they reached the med bay. There, Lance helped him to sit down a bench and pulled out one of the white suits made specifically for the healing pods, before coming back to him.

 

"What are you even wearing ?" he wondered as he helped the other to strip ou of a black and purple armor, each movement making Keith hiss in pain.  
"Marmora Trials suit," he panted. "How long ?" he added, glancing at the pod Lance was carrying him to.  
"As long as you need," he simply replied. "I'll be there when you wake up."  
"I love you," Keith blurted as the pod closed on him, and there was a short moment where Lance swore there was fear on his face, as if he wouldn't say it back for some reason.  
"Love you too," he told him, but Keith's eyes were already fluttering shut.

 

On the side, the monitor indicated three quintants. Good. Lance had some asses to kick, in the meantime.

 

"Okay, Lance, Lance, I'm gonna need you to breathe," Shiro grunted as he forced the vociferating Paladin out of the room. "Seriously, this is absolutely not helping."  
"Maybe," Lance fumed, "but I feel a lot better after a good screaming match."  
"Yeah, I can tell," the older man sighed, probably wondering what he did in a previous life for such a karma. "But it is tradition, and Keith consented to it."

 

Lance almost barked a laugh, even if the situation was everything but funny.

 

"You give your consent to sleep with someone," he grumbled, "not to get the crap beaten out of you."

 

Shiro sighed again and pinched the bridge of his nose. He suddenly looked a lot older than twenty-four.

 

"You don't have to whole story. Don't get me wrong, I'm too very pissed that he got hurt the way he did, but all in all it was necessary, and I'm not talking for the team. I'm talking for him."  
"...What do you mean ?"  
"It's not up to me to tell," the team leader frowned apologetically, "and you'll have to ask him yourself."  
"Wait, is this about what he was trying to tell me on the way to the med bay ?" Lance realized. "I didn't let him talk, I just wanted to make sure he would be okay. It was really that important ?"  
"Probably. Again, it's not up to me to tell. But you care about him, don't you ?  
"Of course," the other replied, his face softening. "More than he knows."  
"Then you'll know what's good for him," Shiro's glance immediatly sharpened. "If I learn that you hurt him in any way, don't forget I have a Galra weapon on me at all times and I'm not afraid to use it."  
"O... kay ?" Lance stared at him and paled a little, not expecting a shovel talk right now, out of all times.  
"Alright," Shiro went back to smile again, as if the general temperature of the room didn't just dropped because of his glare alone. "Let's get back in there. But this time, please don't yell at Kolivan ? The last thing we need is a diplomatic incident."

 

According to Allura, making an alliance with the Galra was a very bad idea. Like, _invading Earth_ level of bad idea. And, to some extend, Lance was inclined to agree with her. He could get behind the concept of Galra being the enemy, the one kind of alien everyone hated. Obviously, Lance wasn't close-minded enough to think that every Galra was bad : civilians where for the most part innocents, as far as he knew, and they made the largest part of the Galran society. But by staying so long on the Alteans' side, there always was that lingering discrimination, a passive state of mind that he assimilated over the months.

 

So this rebel secret force ? He wasn't so sure about that.

 

He had some time to think of it, since Shiro and Coran forced the team to get a break while Keith healed, despite Pidge's protests - the Green Paladin was still pulling her hair out over her family's disappearance. And, because Hunk made his personal mission to keep Lance's mind away from Keith, Lance decided to go pester Pidge until she either eat something or go to bed. She eventually gave up with a groan, allowing her friends to take her to her room where she crashed as soon as she hit the mattress. Shiro was nowhere to be found but hopefully resting too, Allura was reading something on one of the common room's couches and Coran was still trying to fix the altean pool.

 

So Lance, left with nothing to do and express prohibition to walk in the med bay before at least another quintant, helped Hunk baking.

 

"I'm not saying that the Rievs look like the Na'vi from Avatar, but I'm saying that you don't see giant blue people without thinking about it."  
"Yeah, well Na'vi didn't have elephant trunks either, so really the parallel stops to the size and color," Lance hummed as he pocked at the greyish blob of paste Hunk was kneading. "What is this supposed to be anyway ?"  
"Uh. Not sure," his friend replied. "I was trying to make bread but only had that weird grain to make flour, so. Yeah. It's probably tasty..?"  
"Oh my god," he snorted, "this is the cookie disaster all over again."  
"Hey, I'll let you know that my disastrous cookies saved the day in the end. Inedible, but useful."  
"Hopefully that's what anyone we ally with will think of us."

 

Hunk chuckled and pushed the dough in whatever he used as a oven before turning back to him.

 

"So," he started, and Lance knew he was about to be grilled. "Keith, uh ?"  
"Why do you have to say his name like that ?" he groaned. "Yes, _Keith_."  
"How comes I never knew about this ?"  
"You mean, at the Garrison ?"  
"Well, yeah, you aren't exactly the quiet type about whoever you try to woo. Although you did become quiet about it at some point. So," Hunk clapped his hands, "spill the tea."

 

Lance sighed and wiggled a little on his stool. If his best friend was in the mood, then it's storytime, bitches.

 

"Remember that day we saw the news at the Garrison ? The ones where they said they lost all contact with the Kerberos mission."  
"Yeah."  
"Well Keith got kicked out of the program like, a week later, and I've been admitted in the fighting pilot class thanks to that. And like, no one really knew where he went or what happened to him. But there is this one day, we had permission to hit the town and you were sick and Pidge wasn't around yet... And I decided, you know, fuck it, let's go by myself. And guess who I bump into as I try to have something to do ?"  
"Keith ?"  
"Yeah," Lance laughed a little at the memory. "He was fist-fighting this one dude who was twice his size, and somehow won. Except that he turns around, and he sees me, and he knows I recognizes him so he basically kidnaps me and we just run for a while trying to avoid the other guy who was not happy to be obliterated by a high-schooler."

 

Hunk snorted but didn't comment, letting him continue.

 

"At some point though I force him to stop because I'm completely out of breath and this close to pass away, so I drag him inside a... what was it... I think it was a bar or something, but like the fancy kind. So we sit and hide for a while because who knows what could happen if we're caught, right. And we take a drink because we ran through half the city and I'm basically dead, and Keith tells me that, completely unrelated to him decking full-grown adults, he's trying to find infos about the Kerberos mission."  
"And he's just so passionate about it, and desperate, and it was the time where I had this big celebrity crush on Shiro, you know ? So I just say 'hey, let me help you' and he looks at me like I just grew a second head or something, but he accepts. But the thing is, I still have to go to class during the week, and I can't really sneak out of the Garrison, so we start to talk online too. At the time I discovered he had a cryptid blog, but don't tell him I told you. Anyway."

 

He took a deep breath and downed the drink Hunk pushed in his direction.

 

"It's just this for a while, internet chatboxes, a string of texts here and there. None of us is really good at this, but like, there are two of us, so somehow we figure stuff out. Keith had this very long list of possibilities about what happened - to his credit, third of them included aliens, so we weren't so far off. But then Keith doest this really stupid thing, I think he tried to jump one of those cliffs in the desert by himself and broke his wrist-"  
"Wait, by himself ?"  
"Uh, yes. We tried again a few months later and it went way better ? I think it had something to do with putting more weight on the bike or something. Back to the story, he can't really write anymore so I start leaving the campus at night to meet him and play scribe. And it just- goes downhill from there, you know ? A lot of things happen when you're in the dark with a pretty boy."  
"Ooooh."  
"Exactly. Plus he's very clingy, but in the good way. Like sometimes in the morning he would refuse to let me go and it just breaks my heart to leave the shack and go back to the dorms. The thing is, for a while I don't really know where we're at ? You know I don't like tags and categories all that much but it was weird, not knowing what we were."  
"So you asked him out ?"  
"Well- No, but. We got into a fight because I was being very insecure and shitty and he's just very dense, and we yelled at each other and then made out so I guess it just pretty much answered my question."  
"That's... Not gonna lie, but that's pretty _Keith-and-Lance_ of you," Hunk grinned, his chin resting in the palm of his hand.  
"What do you mean ?"  
"Well, when we first got here, with Blue kidnapping us and all... Pidge and I figured you two had some sort of rivalry/frienemies relationship going on, since you practically did nothing but scream at each other."  
"Right, that's a thing that happened," Lance winced. "We have... trouble, communicating. It's a lot about how Keith has abandonment issues or something, and how I always jump to the conclusion that- See, that thing I do when I'm not needed anymore ?"  
"You cut yourself out of the picture."  
"Exactly. We had an argument because we were both manipulating each other and it just- it fucked us up for a while, and then Keith just started crying-"  
"And you yelled some more in the training room."  
"That's the one."  
"Gosh, well I'm glad you two are okay now," the Yellow Paladin sighed contently, but then froze. "Are you ?"  
"I guess ?" the other shrugged. "I mean he's been acting weird but if we talk this out-"  
"More like shout this out."  
"...Yes. Whatever. Communication is key or something. Didn't Shiro said that once ? Or was it Coran ?"  
"It was Allura, I think. About how we're a team and shouldn't have secrets between us. And then you got shot, I cried a lot, you got out of the pod then the closet, and then Pidge blew you mind."  
"I still can't wrap my brain around the fact that she's a girl !"  
" _Biologically_ a girl," Pidge said as she entered the kitchen with a swoosh of the door, her laptop balanced on her forearm. "Doesn't mean I identify as one. What are you two gossiping about ?"  
"Lance's crush on Keith."  
"Is it still a crush if I fuck him, though ?"  
"Gross," Pidge commented, wrinkling her nose and making Lance laugh.  
"Okay, enough about my sex life. I'm gonna check on Keith and make sure he isn't choking on his own hair or something."  
"Do you want me to put some of the bread aside for him ?"  
"Do I love you ? The answer is yes."

 

The pod opened with a hiss and Keith toppled forward, right into Lance's arms.

 

"Hey there, beautiful," the latter cooed, brushing the Red Paladin's bangs out of his face as he blinked blearily.  
"How long have I been out ?"  
"A little less than three quintants."

 

Keith's fingers found their way in the soft fabric of Lance's shirt and curled there, his head hiding in the crook of his neck.

 

"Urgh."  
"It's okay, though, we didn't have a single drill or anything. We could almost thank the Galra for not attacking us."

 

Keith immediately tensed and pulled away. Lance immediately missed the warm breath against his throat.

 

"Lance, there's something I need to tell you."  
"Okay," he replied very seriously. "But do you think we could put some food into you first ? Or is it something life-threatening to the point you have to tell me right now right there ?"

 

Keith seemed to consider it, before slightly nodding.

 

"Food sounds good right now."  
"Okay. Hunk tried to make some bread."  
"This guy isn't appreciated enough."  
"I know. Trust me, I know."

 

Lance was waiting patiently, sitting cross-legged on the bed. The fact that Keith had been trying to tell him something but somehow always got cut - by Lance telling him to eat, or Pidge bursting into the kitchen again to tell Keith that he kinda smelled like something crawled up his suit and died, _no offense_ , or Shiro hugging him tight and telling him to get some rest - was starting to be heavy between them.

 

So here he was, waiting for Keith to be done with the shower to finally know what was making him look like he was about to get kicked into the void without a spacesuit. And, to be honest, he was feeling a little bit restless by all the tension.

 

The tiny bathroom finally opened, letting Keith back in accompanied by a cloud of steam and a wave of hot air. Lance wordlessly pat the mattress between his legs and his boyfriend sat there with a huff, the altean equivalent of a towel thrown on his damp hair.

 

"Feeling better ?" Lance asked, fingers already flying through the raven hair to untangle and massage the way he knew Keith liked.  
"Hmmm," the other almost purred, slumping a little under the touch. "I hate this."

 

Lance leaned back so they were half laying down, half propped against the wall.

 

"What ?" he asked, only earning a vague hand gesture.  
"This."  
"Care to be more specific, dear mullet of mine ?"

 

Keith sighed and pulled himself impossibly closer.

 

"That thing that I have to tell you but I don't want to because you're probably going to hate me but I the same time I can't not tell you because I'd rather die than let you and the rest of the team in the dark. Also because if I don't say anything karma is going to stab me in the back later, I just know it."  
"Okay ?" Lance breathed in at the same time Keith breathed out. It made a weird sound. "How about you just tell me so I can decide whether or not I have to hate you ? Also, for the record, I don't think that's actually possible. Unless you, I don't know, commit genocide. Then I would probably hate you a little."

 

Keith huffed again and sat up facing him. Lance found himself at a loss of what to do with his hands. He tucked them under his thighs. Keith shifted. In the dim light of their bedroom, it was hard to make out his traits, but it looked like he was preparing himself to hear Lance yell, or see him run away. Lance promised himself to not do any of those.

 

"Okay. Okay. It's- It's a lot like coming out, but without any benefit," the Red Paladin mumbled, his fingers fidgeting with the end of the towel.  
"Hey, babe. It's fine. Whatever it is, we can probably work with it. Just take a deep breath and tell me."  
"I'm Galra."  
"Yes, exactly like th- Wait, what did you just say ?"  
" _I'm Galra._ "

 

Lance knew about Keith's blade. It wasn't like the boy didn't show it to him a few times, during their long, sleepless nights of research. And, yes, Keith did some weird things with Galra tech, like unlock a warship's dashboard by simply pressing his hand on it. Or like his skin would turn purple when in contact with raw Quintessence - Lance hadn't been there to witness it, but he and Keith went to the library to look if there was anything about allergies to magic afterward. And, when Lance discovered that his boyfriend could see without any light in their room, he figured it was just a _Keith_ thing.

 

The evidence was there all along, and the Blue Paladin just chose not to see any of it. Then, obviously, with the confirmation in plain sight, he wasn't all that shocked. Maybe just a little frustrated to be so blind to obvious signs.

 

"I... expected a lot of things, but not this."

 

Keith clenched his jaw and pulled on his hair.

 

"That's it ?"  
"What do you mean ?"  
"I'm the enemy, Lance. I'm one of them and you don't even look a little bit phased !"  
"To be honest I'm not really sure I'm realizing yet," Lance replied calmly, untangling Keith's fingers from the long strands of hair. "But it's fine."  
"How is any of this fine ?" the other snapped, and there was something dangerously close to a sob in his voice.  
"It doesn't really make a difference. You didn't suddenly become Galra, right ?" Lance argued. "Just because you know it now doesn't mean you weren't Galra before."  
"I guess..?"  
"See ? It doesn't matter in the end. You've been Galra all along and just didn't know."  
"That's not even a bit reassuring," Keith shook his head, but his hands stopped shaking in Lance's hold.  
"Okay, let's see the problem from another angle. What you are doesn't define who you are. What are you ?"  
"What ?"  
"Play along, Keith, I'm trying to make a point. What are you ?"  
"A Galra."  
"Yes, and..?"  
"An Earthling. Texan. Korean ? Whatever."  
"Right. Now who are you ?"

 

Keith thought about it.

 

"I'm... just Keith."  
"Absolutely. You're that weird boy from the desert who likes conspiracy theories and his brother and I hope his boyfriend. You're that kid who's been looking for alien even before we knew for sure there were any."  
"...I'm the Red Paladin, too."  
"Yep, you're Red's pilot, the right arm of Voltron. An important member of our team. And all that, that's _who_ you are, independently from the fact that you just discovered yesterday that you're part of the race we're fighting against."

 

Keith let out a loud exhale, falling forward until his forehead bumped against Lance's chest. The cuban boy immediately started petting his hair again.

 

"You're done freaking out ?" he inquired, tone light and playful.  
"Yes. How are you not freaking out ?" the other grumbled, sounding rightfully exhausted.  
"Oh, trust me, I'm screaming inside right now," he snorted, "But one of us had to keep it cool and it wasn't going to be you."

 

Keith snaked his arms around his boyfriend's waist and they slid on the mattress with a light oof.

 

"You know I wouldn't give up on you, no matter what species you are, right ?"  
"Mmmh."  
"Keith, I'm serious. I love you, and nothing is ever going to change that."  
"I know. I just have a hard time remembering it."  
"Go to sleep, _querido_. We have a long day ahead of us."


	3. Interlude

When Lance opened his eyes, he could have sworn he was back in the shack.

 

He was flat on his back, Keith squeezed between him and the wall and laying half on top of him, arm loosely thrown across his stomach, head heavy on his chest.

 

He looked down at him, at his hair sticking comically in all the directions possible, at the trail of saliva at the corner of his mouth _that really shouldn't be as adorable as it was_ , at his night shirt riding up just a little around his waist, at the way their legs were tangled together, at the mess of blankets at their feet.

 

Yeah, if Lance focused on Keith, he could almost imagine that they really were in the shack. If he kept tracing the lines of his face, he could act as if the window above them just had the curtains drawn, that the coffee table on their left was just out of his eyesight, that the kitchen at the other end of the room was there, just too dark and too far away for him to see it, that the "conspiracy theory board" on the opposite wall was still covered in photos and printed articles and tacks and red wool and sticky notes. If he just kept looking at Keith, he could swear they were _home_.

 

It felt normal. For a short moment, Lance almost forgot they were in space.

 

But then, the room came into focus, with the metallic walls and the soft blue glow of the lights, with the stuff they collected along the way scattered across every surface, barely masking the fact that _this_ wasn't home.

 

Lance didn't move a single muscle. He was still calm, a little numb maybe, but aware that if he started thinking he would just spiral down the rabbit hole and his anxiety would go through the roof. So he forced himself to stay perfectly still, pinned against the mattress by the weight of his boyfriend on top of him, focusing on keeping his respiration calm and steady. In and out, in and out.

 

Something twisted in his stomach, not yet fully-formed apprehension, but the awareness of its presence. The consciousness that it would grow no matter what, once the sleepy haze that still surrounded his brain dissipated.

 

Keith's fingers twitched against his ribs, his eyelids fluttered, his nose scrunching up and- God, Lance joked a lot about him being a cat, but now he knew it was more litteral than he ever intended. A purple space cat in human clothing.

 

Keith didn't move, kept his eyes on Lance, didn't as much as breathe. Lance blinked back at him. Then, slowly, very slowly, his respiration became more fluid, if not a little forced. In, and out. In and out.

 

"Hey," Lance said.  
"Hey yourself," Keith replied, tiny and uncertain.  
"How are you feeling ?"

 

Keith groaned as an answer and rolled against the wall. Lance immediately ached for the weight and warmth.

 

"Like I'm about to start the Apocalypse."  
"Well, you're not wrong... How about we get breakfast first, though ?"

 

They made their way to the castle's kitchen in silence, hand in hand, yawning every now and then because no matter how much they slept in, there was a kind of exhaustion lingering in their bones that wouldn't go away. The door wooshed open, letting Hunk and Shiro appear around the central island. Keith slipped next to the latter as Lance went to get them some goo.

 

"You told him ?" Shiro asked quietly, elbowing his brother who nodded and rubbed his eyes. "...And ?"

 

Keith shrugged. Hunk kept looking between the two of them, his eyesbrows gradually climbing in his hairline in a silent question. Lance came back and passed a bowl to Keith before exchanging a look with Shiro.

 

"What ?"  
"He told you ? What did you say ?"  
"What do you want me to say ? It doesn't change anything. It shouldn't change anything."  
"Good," Shiro nodded before downing whatever was in his cup.  
"Hum... What are you guys talking about ?" Hunk chimed in. "Am I missing a piece of information or is there a code going on ?"

 

Three pairs of eyes turned to him and he deflated a little.

 

"Forget I asked anything."  
"Don't worry about it, buddy," Lance pat his shoulder, "We'll tell you when everyone is here."

 

At the other end of the island, Keith groaned but didn't contradict him.

 

"Allura is going to be so mad," he muttered instead, and Shiro bumped their knees together. "It's hard enough to fit in the team as it is, and now-"  
"Hey, okay, nonono, none of that," Lance stopped him with an accusing finger. "Remember what we said last night. An important member of the team."

 

Keith took a deep breath. Hunk blinked in incomprehension. Lance chewed on his goo. Shiro stood up to put his cup away. The door opened to let a disheveled Pidge in, clearly having pulled an all-nighter ; she sat down on Keith's other side with a grunt.

 

" _Don't_ ," she warned Lance as he opened his mouth, "talk to me before I get some of Hunk's coffee-like juice."

 

The Blue Paladin took Shiro's seat and placed a hand on Keith's, rubbing slow circles on its back. Keith took another deep breath. Lance could almost see the nervousness running through his body, to the point where he was almost vibrating on the spot.

 

"Good morning Paladins !" Coran greeted as soon as he entered the room, only for the words to die on his lips when he took a look at them. "Oh, there is serious tension in here, isn't it ? Did the meeting with Kolivan put you all in a foul mood ?"

 

Lance had forgotten about that. He sighed and glanced at his team-mates. Keith's leg was bouncing under the table. Shiro narrowed his eyes in a silent attempt to make in stop, without success. Pidge loudly slurped her drink. Hunk retreated discreetly in the back of the room.

 

It took Allura a few more ticks to join them with a smiling but tired face, a tablet in hands, lines and lines running on it as it was treating all the information they gathered in the last couple of days. Well... Almost all the information.

 

"Okay, spit it out," Pidge asked out of the blue, glaring at both Keith and Lance from the top of her cup. "What's bugging you two so much ?"

 

Lance took a whole second to unclench his jaw and relax his shoulders. He didn't notice how tense he was, but Keith was worse - a real ball of nerves. Shiro gave them a thumbs-up. Hunk looked at them with worry in his eyes. Allura and Coran exchanged a confused look.

 

"Keith ?" Lance asked, because the other seemed about to implode.  
"I got this, I got this, just... Give me a second." Keith closed his eyes. "It's somehow harder the second time."

 

Lance laughed, barely a nervous chuckle, but it was enough to push Keith to act.

 

"When we went to the Blade," he started, "they made me pass a trial, because I had a Galra knife with me."

 

Allura visibly flinched, but didn't stop him.

 

"I passed the trial. Somehow, I managed to pass something that only the trained recruits of the Blade manage to do. And I unlocked the Blade."

 

He fidgeted with the helm of the knife, that Lance didn't notice was tucked in the back of his belt, and tossed it in the middle of the table, so everyone could get a good look at it.

 

"And... The only way to unlock a Blade of Marmora... Is to have Galra blood."

 

Pidge froze in her way to take the knife to inspect it. Hunk's eyes doubled in size. Coran gasped, not so discreetly. Allura's face turned blank. Lance squeezed Keith's hand, trying to communicate all his love and support through that simple gesture.

 

"Are you saying..." Hunk blurted, "Are you saying that you're...? You, Keith, a...?"  
"Don't make it weird, Hunk," Lance grumbled. "Just say it."  
"Galra," Keith completed in a breath. "I'm a Galra."

 

A beat of silence. Then :

 

"No. No, _absolutely not_. I will not allow something like this to defile the symbol that is Voltron. This," she pointed aggressively at Keith, "is ignominious."

 

And Allura left the room with a flip of her dress.

 

"Princess..!" Coran called after her, casting a sorry glance at the rest of the team before bursting out of the kitchen himself.

 

A flicker of hurt crossed the Red Paladin's eyes. He probably expected this kind of reaction, but it still must have burned.

 

"You knew about this ?" Pidge glared at Lance.  
"Only since last night."  
"Okay, so let me get this straight," she croaked at Keith, rubbing her whole face with her hands. "Did you know since day one or did you just discover that yesterday ?"  
"I discovered that yesterday," he muttered evenly.  
"So it's not a trick from the Empire to infiltrate us from the moment we rescued Shiro ?"  
"No, of course not," Lance frowned.  
"How could you _not_ know you were Galra ?" Hunk wondered.  
"I just... Didn't ? I never knew my mom."  
"I'm gonna need a few moments to wrap my head around this," the youngest Paladin blew her cheeks as she jumped down her stool. "I'm not mad at you, by the way," she added, as if to invite anyone to even try and call her a liar. "It's just a lot. Come by the med bay when you can, I wanna run some tests."  
"Well, anyway, I'm glad you told us, man," Hunk said, somehow still smiling despite the weird energy floating in the room. "It's so weird, though, you don't look like one of them at all ?"  
"Hunk, for the love of God, just say Galra. Keith isn't Voldemort."

 

Keith slammed his fist on the table, making everyone jump, threw himself out of his seat and rushed out of the room.

 

"What just happened ?" Hunk stuttered.  
"I'm going after him," Lance decided.  
"Wait," Shiro stopped him with a hand on his shoulder. "Let him cool off a little. I think I know where he's going to go anyway. Plus, we need to talk to Coran and Allura."  
"Can I let you to it ? I feel like I'm not gonna be the most polite if I see them right now."

 

Shiro shook his head and pat Lance's shoulder in agreement.

 

"I'll see what I can do," he hummed as he stepped out.  
"I'm sorry but," Hunk whispered, "What the quiznak was that ?"  
"I'll tell you when I get any of this myself," Lance sighed and rubbed the back of his neck.

 

____________________________________________________________________________

 

Shiro followed the mice to locate Allura. He wasn't sure she would do her natural day pattern, with how disturbed she was, but he was actually surprised to see the little beasts lead him right to her apartments.

 

The door swooshed open before he could ever knock, letting the mice in. He glanced inside, trying to find her without overstepping any boundary, and- Ah, there.

 

"Princess ?" he called hesitantly, the mass of white hair wobbling angrily with each harsh hairbrush tug. "Do you need a hand, perhaps ?"

 

Allura blinked at him in confusion, probably just noting his presence, before sighing and waving at him to come in.

 

"Well, I am in a pretty tangled situation."

 

If Shiro noticed the ambiguity of the answer, he didn't pry, instead taking the brush from her grip and fighting the knots thousands times more gently than her. They spent several minutes in silence, the Black Paladin focusing on unraveling the impressive length, Allura sitting very still and very quiet in her seat.

 

"I feel betrayed," she finally spoke up, her eyes closed and her face turned away, so Shiro could only partially witness her reactions. "And very confused."  
"Why are you confused ?"  
"I don't have the right to be mad at him, do I ?" she asked, glancing up at him and then immediately away.  
"Not for something he can't control, no."  
"And yet my instincts tell me to stay away from him, because he's Galra. He _is_ Galra, Shiro. This is terrible, for all of us."  
"Imagine how he must feel then," he sighed, brush hanging in the air for a moment. "He always thought he was human. He just discovered that half his legacy comes from outer space. I would be pretty freaked out too, if it were me."

 

Allura sighed again and opened a drawer, producing a comb from the depths of her cabinet, and started to work on another lock.

 

"I get it. Rationally, I get it," she insisted, trying to convince both herself and Shiro. "But it doesn't stop the entire situation to feel-"  
"Wrong ?" he helped, and she nodded bashfully.  
"Yes. We can't have Galra in Voltron. They're a liability."  
"Let's put it that way," Shiro explained, patient and soft, "Do you trust Team Voltron ?"  
"Of course I do, how can you even-"  
"Do you trust me ?"  
"Yes, I-"  
"Do you trust Pidge ?"  
"Of course, she-"  
"Do you trust Lance ? And Hunk ?"  
"I do, but how-"  
"Do you trust Keith ?"  
"For the love of- _Yes !_ "

 

The word left Allura's mouth a little more exasperated than needed, but Shiro didn't seemed too moved by her reaction.

 

"So you don't trust Galras, because you have history with them. But you believe in us, and Keith is no exception."

 

She nodded. He nodded back. They nodded at each other.

 

"Keith is Keith, will always be Keith first and human and Galra second, no matter how you look at it. He's a rational person who thinks about good and bad and can see the difference most of the time."  
"No one is born evil," Allura's voice sounded very far, like she was lost in some distant thought. "Menace in his blood, but his strength at the service of the greater good."  
"Just- Think about it : if we never came here, we wouldn't have known, never questioned whether or not Keith belongs in Team Voltron."  
"So what do you suggest we should do ?"  
"First of all, you should apologize for ever thinking of throwing him out," Shiro chuckled, but there was a dangerous edge in his tone that implied that no title would save Allura from his wrath if anything happened to Keith. "And then, we should do team-building exercises so no one can be a liability for the others. What do you think ?"  
"I think... I think I have to find the Red Paladin."

 

____________________________________________________________________________

 

Keith, to no one's surprise, was found beating mercilessly the training bots, with Lance keeping an eye on him from the sidelines. Allura cleared her throat, drawing the latter's attention at once and producing a sickening crack from his neck with how fast he turned to look at her.

 

"Lance," the princess inquired, with her accent slightly tilting his name, "Do you mind if I..?"

 

She waved vaguely at the bench, and Lance raised an eyebrow.

 

"Depends," he said, coldly, unaffected, maybe even a little hurt. "Are you going to call me ignominious and leave the room if I say something that doesn't sit well with you ?"

 

Allura made a face but purposefully sat next to him, eyeing the fight still going on in the middle of the room. There was something slightly desperate in the way Keith slammed his bayard into the bot, something that almost made Allura rethink her entire point of view. Almost.

 

"He is not them," Lance said firmly, as if he just followed her thought process. "He is good. He is kind. He knows what's right and- and there is no way he would turn his back to us. Not without the universe's best interests at heart. And if you're still determined to keep Voltron "clean", well, congratulations, you just found yourself short of two Paladins."  
"I know that," she nodded, and Lance glanced at her sideways. "I know that, and I'm sorry, I said things- hurtful things I didn't mean, at least not entirely, and not about Keith. We are a team, and we should act as such."  
"We're way more than that, Princess," Coran said, and the two others jumped at his sudden apparition. "Voltron is a coalition. A family. If people like Keith can't find safety in our number, then in the name of what are we even fighting for ?"

 

Allura turned back to the Red Paladin, panting heavily but not giving up yet, already squaring up for the next level of training. She looked at her Blue Paladin, at the way his eyes were lit when he was looking at Keith, at how he seemed ready to set the universe ablaze for him. She glanced up at Coran, who was covering the two with a soft but nervous sight, like a mother hen, whatever that was.

 

She looked back at Keith, who was so desperately human, and yet fought exactly like a Galra, but smiled like a human, cried like a human, got hurt like a human... Because he was human. Deeply, to his very core, despite whatever biology disclaimed, he was an Earthling, stranded in the middle of nowhere with a ragtag army of friends and lonely aliens. Still fighting in the name of something _she_ believed in. Fighting his very own race in the name of freedom, alongside other Galras who claimed it wasn't fair, wasn't right. Abandoning whatever he was in favor of what he wanted for the entire galaxy.

 

Maybe it was time she left behind the old grudges and started to think about the future. Maybe it was time to make the first step in the right direction.

 

"Anyway, don't apologize to me ; apologize to him," Lance said, and Coran made a weird squeaky sound when the Blue Paladin grabbed him by the sleeve. "We'll be just outside if you need us."

 

It took her another long couple of ticks to gather the strength to get on her feet and set herself in motion to the battlefield. Keith looked at her coming with big, spooked purple eyes, but didn't move a single muscle until she came at his level.

 

"Keith," Allura said, "I think we need to talk."

 

____________________________________________________________________________

 

It was weird, at first. Nervous. Like there was an unspoken truce between the two of them, but with the lines of it blurry enough that they didn't really know how not to overstep. It was an unconscious tension in Keith's body every time Allura would enter a room, a heavy exchange of looks, sometimes a nod of acknowledgement. In Lance's opinion, anything was better than these two avoiding each other altogether.

 

"I'm glad to see you didn't strangle each other to death, yet," he told the Princess during diner. "It would have been a shame to lose two of my favorite people in the galaxy in the same evening."

 

She glared at him, daring him to say another word, bu there wasn't any real heat behind. Just a gentle reminder that she wouldn't let anyone push her around. Lance could work with that.

 

"We want peace and freedom," she reminded him. "Might as well start in our own house."

 

Lance nodded and turned back to the rest of the group.

 

"...Superpowers ?" Pidge was asking, and Keith smirked.  
"No, I don't. At least I don't think I do."  
"Actually, you do," Lance pointed out and stole the last food roll on the table. "You can see in the dark."  
"That's so cool," Hunk gasped, another hundred or so questions already on his tongue.

 

It felt normal, in a weird, slightly different way than usual. Just a little more tense. Lance knew that Keith was terrified that it would all be a lie, that they would drop him on the nearest planet and go to save the universe without him, but deep down he knew Shiro wouldn't let that happen. And if it did, Lance would ask to be dropped with him. And Hunk would at least protest. And Pidge grumble a little.

 

Not that he was sure about any of this, but he sure as Hell hoped so.

**Author's Note:**

> Like what you see ? Leave kudos and comments, and maybe give a look to my other stories ? :D


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